FlashForward
by ShizoCow
Summary: On October 6th, the planet blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. The whole world saw the future. Why did it happen? Who made it happen? And most important: Will it happen again? A disturbed Dib, a curious Zim and a fearful ! Gaz want to know.
1. No More Normal Days

**I've never done a more-chapter fanfic before, but I hope this one turns out great. **

**Source of inspiration was the novel and short-living ABC series 'FlashForward', which is a great show you should watch and love. We, the fans, are currently doing everything to get the show back. **

**But to read this piece you do not need knowledge of the series, there won't be any of its characters, etc. showing up, the only thing adapted from it is my summary and the premise, which will also lead the plot on this fic. **

**I guess it's even better you don't know the series, so you will get to know the secrets step by step. But enough of my rambling, on with the fic!**

**(Also, keep in mind I don't own neither Invader Zim nor FlashForward.)**

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Screams. Crashs. Someone crying nearby.

The air smelled of fire and smoke as Dib woke up to find himself laying on the middle of the road. Before he even opened his eyes he felt around the ground with his hands, knowing that his glasses had fallen off. Finding them, he pulled them on and could at least see through the left, non-cracked lens.

Moments later he wished he couldn't.

As he looked around he saw bodies everywhere, their intestines and blood gushing out. Some were crushed under cars, others seemed to be split in half.

Even worse were the still living ones, screaming for help, mourning their lost companions. They surely weren't as injured as the dead, but the look of desperation and confusion on their faces was heart-wrenching.

Another look around showed the 14-year old a display of destruction. The stench of smoke came from crashed planes and burning factories, buildings were on fire as the world sank into chaos. Cars had exploded and their parts were laying on the road. Nothing seemed to be in right order.

Terrified, Dib broke into a run, wanting to get away from the all the misery and havoc. He never stopped wondering what had happened, one moment he was walking home from school, the other he suddenly blacked out to awake in this mess.

A young man thwarted him, hysterically shouting something Dib didn't want to understand and pointing to a bleeding woman stuck under a car. She obviously was in great pain as her left arm laid two inches from her. Dib paid them no mind and resumed running. He was too horrified to think straight, he just needed to leave this place.

But everywhere he went the scenery was the same, mangled bodies and car crashes over the whole town. He decided to just go home. He needed a room for himself where he could overthink the situation. Also, he was getting sick and slightly dizzy from seeing only on one eye.

Ignoring every cry of pain and help he came across, he finally managed to reach his home. A pang of worry hit him all the sudden, for the first time wondering if his sister was alright. As soon as he opened the front door he was relived, finding her sitting on the couch watching the news. She seemed to be fine.

When he stepped in, Gaz turned around, watching him nonchalantly.

"So you're alive, eh?" She turned again, not waiting for an answer, eyes once again glued on the screen.

Not that Dib expected her to care.

He walked to the couch where she was sitting on. He then noticed it was a report on what had happened that day.

"Turn up the volume," he demanded. Gaz shot him a brief death glare. Dib nervously stared back.

"Uhm, please?"

She growled in response, reluctantly doing as he said. Under normal circumstances she would have sent him into a world of pain and doom without return.

But they sure were a hell lot away from normal circumstances.

_"-seemingly they gave us a short glance into April 29th of the next year. No one knows what caused the massive blackouts, but we the whole world experienced one simultaneously and for the same amount of time." _

Dib shot his eyebrows up when he heard the reporters saying this.

"So everyone black out? I thought I had been the only one. That of course would explain the chaos around town but-"

"Would you shut up already?" A very frustrated Gaz turned the volume even louder.

Dib merely rolled his eyes. He had learned to cope with his sister's anger over the years.

He returned his attention to the television, but the next news flash just showed the big cities like D.C., Paris and London surrounded by smoke and destroyed buildings. The boy came to the conclusion the reporters were just clueless about the blackouts as everyone else was and decided to go to his room.

Leaving his sister in the living room, he walked upstairs.

With a soft sigh, Dib let himself drop on the bed. He couldn't stop thinking about today's events. Once again, he recalled the happenings, maybe he would find some answers if he could just order his thoughts.

So, he was walking home from skool, thinking about some new way to expose Zim-

Zim. Could he have caused the blackouts? With his 'highly superior' - as he called it - Irken technology he surely would have been able to do that. Not to mention that it caused a great amount of deaths and destruction to earth, something the alien's been longing for since he was on this planet.

But he hadn't tried anything to conquer earth for the past 2 years. Dib didn't know why, but he had simply stopped to make any serious plans. They would usually go with their fights, but not to seriously try to kill each other.

So why the sudden change of mind? Also, it was very unlikely that a plan from Zim would work properly. That was also one of the reasons Dib lost a bit of interest in the alien. His sister had been right, he realized Zim was too stupid to actually harm anyone.

Dib pushed the thought of the Irken causing the blackout back for a while. He would come to that later, when he had considered other things.

What happened after that? Oh yeah, the blacking out, he surely had had some strange dream-

Again something stirred in his mind. Hadn't the reporter on TV said the blackouts were...a future vision? Everyone saw a glimpse of their lives on April 29th of the next year. Given they currently were on October 6th, this would be in about 6 months.

Dib shifted uncomfortably. He hoped this wasn't the truth. What he had seen was not he had expected doing in 6 months. He also could not explain how it would be possible.

With a mental reminder of asking people on school the next day what they had seen and if it made sense to them, he moved on.

Then again, if the sole purpose of the blackouts was to show people their future, why would Zim do that? Chances of him being responsible for this were slipping away.

With a yawn, Dib tried to remember if anything else he had seen and experienced today could be related to the global blackout. He had had a hard time concentrating the last few minutes, his mind slowly beginning to grow tired of the whole thinking.

He let it go for the night, drifting away into sleep.

Tomorrow surely would give him new insights on this whole mess.

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**Loved it, hated it? Let me know and review.**

**Constructive criticism is always welcome, also if I continue this a beta-reader would be great. I'm not a native English speaker so there might be a lot of faults here. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope we see each other at the next chapter!**

**PS: Reviewers get Oreos! :) **


	2. Believe

**Thanks for the nice and encouraging reviews! They always help in continue writing a story. **

**I didn't think there would be someone who actually knows this show so it's good to see that there are some. c: I don't have much to say, on with the story!**

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Dib awoke suddenly after an unquiet sleep. He didn't dream anything but had been unable to rest properly. Last day's events had just been too unsettling.

A quick glance at his watch told him it was 3 AM. He growled, knowing he shouldn't be surprised. He had gone to bed in the afternoon the day before after all. It took a moment for him to realize he was still wearing his clothes as well.

Yawning, he stood up and went to the bathroom.

"I can just as well take a shower,", he mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepy. "I won't be able to sleep again anyway."

Being as quiet as possible as not wanting to wake his sister up (which could be fatal so early in the morning), Dib took a good look in the bathroom's mirror and frowned. He indeed needed a bath, sweaty and dirty as he was.

He stepped into the stall after undressing, and found his mind finally resting for the first time since last afternoon. Grinning, he decided to take his time to shower.

Back in his room and feeling much better, Dib once again pondered about what he couldn't get out of his head.

The blackout.

He hadn't come to a result the night before. The only thing he could do as the first step to discover the cause of this mess was talking to Zim and make sure it wasn't his fault. He hadn't exactly ruled that possibility out yet.

But what after that? If Zim wasn't the cause, how would he continue his research? Dib was a curious boy by nature, so it was just natural to him to have the urge to find out something about strange occurrences.

Though this time it also had something personal. He of course couldn't stop thinking about what he saw. That intrigued and, at the same time, kind of disturbed him.

If it really was the future...

He chuckled humorlessly to himself. By six months at the latest he was sure to find out.

After some time not getting much further in his thoughts, heavy steps next door indicated Dib a sour 13-year aged girl had gone out of bed. Clearly she also had not slept well.

He heard the steps coming to his room. Some loud banging. Then:

"WAKE UP STUPID. IT'S 4.15." They left soon after.

Apparently Gaz would wake him up three hours before school just for the sake of waking him up.

The boy was glad he already was awake.

At breakfast later Dib did his best to avoid his sister and her bad temper. He managed that quite well. All she did was play her beloved Gameslave 3.2 and occasionally give him dirty looks, which he was used to anyway.

She left a bit earlier without words, living Dib alone at the table. Though she was dreaded for her anger issues, today she had been colder than usual. He shrugged it off, blaming it on the previous day's happening.

"And probably something like PMS." He added amused to his thoughts, continuing eating his cereal. Or at least what Gaz had left of it.

As Dib walked to school, he was shocked to see how aftermaths of the blackout were still visible. Destroyed buildings didn't seem to be cared about and the streets were full of car parts and other rubbish. The air was still thick with smoke. Never had he seen so much destruction uncared for. He cringed as he even saw some bodies lying on the road.

"WAH!" The boy was taken aback when suddenly a small kangaroo crossed his way. It glanced at him shortly and then resumed his way.

It took some time for Dib to regain composure. "What a strange encounter." Though after all he saw, not only the day before but considering his whole life, nothing should really surprise him by now.

School , which did take place after all, was just as he expected.

As Dib took his seat, everyone was talking about the blackout and what they've seen. Some were hopeful, expectant, though others seemed to be disappointed and distressed. Dib figured he would be somewhere in between, but surely no one cared to ask.

Not that he minded anyway. No longer did he care to tell those people about any paranormal activities or threats he thought existed. It had been the same he stopped obsessing over Zim.

He realized they wouldn't listen to him and finally gave up.

Though he had hoped he would maybe find some new friends in middle school. Unfortunately for him, the students and their mentality were the same nevertheless there.

Even - he shuddered at the thought - Ms. Bitters for some reason had followed them, for the misfortune of all.

For a second he wondered if the creepy teacher has had a blackout too, since she obviously was not human.

Which led him to further thought. Did Zim have one? The alien still had not arrived.

And for some reason didn't show up for the rest of the lesson. As their teacher came into class, he still wasn't there. First they were given a short lecture about the blackouts and how school would be held no matter what. Then class continued normally. At least as normal as Ms. Bitters's teachings can be.

The whole time Zim didn't appear. Dib felt a familiar feeling as he starred at his empty seat. Maybe he did miss his fights with the alien a bit.

But this was secondary now. He decided that if he didn't show up until lunch he'd go after school to his base.

Dib was determinated; there was no way Zim would avoid him on this day.

Zim indeed didn't come to school at lunch. As Dib sat with Gaz on their usual table he obsessively thought about reasons he didn't show up.

Maybe he did cause the blackout and was worried someone would find out.

Maybe had one himself and was so afraid of what he saw he didn't dare leave his house (at this Dib thought of that time a few years ago when Zim had a terrible fright of germs and didn't leave the house without that ridiculous outfit. The boy chuckled).

Maybe he ...died? In an accident cause by the blackout. This possibility seemed the least appealing to Dib.

He sighed loudly. Almost had he expressed his mind out loud, but reminded himself of the already angered girl sitting next to him and shushed.

Something told him this day would be stressing and difficult, and he didn't need a black eye to accompany him through this.

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**Blah, no real plot development or anything interesting happening, I know. I hope it gets better. I guess I just more time and room to develop it further. **

**Still, reviews?**


	3. Gimme Some Truce

**Thanks for the great reviews once again, and special thanks to Illisandria Carthain for Beta-Testing! **

**Since I seem to upload every weekend, you can await the next chapter by there. **

**But now on with this one!**

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All confidence he had gathered the last few minutes had suddenly vanished as Dib finally stood in front of the alien's door. While a moment ago he was determinate to get an answer from Zim when walking to his base, he now felt unsure of what to do. It had been some time since Dib had last visited Zim; at least a few months. After school that same day he had decided he would directly go to Zim's, now here he was, staring awkwardly at his door.

What should he say?

'Did you cause the blackout?'

'You even had a vision?'

Or should he start with something less obvious?

'I noticed you weren't at school today,'

Or maybe-

'Oh Zim, I missed you at school, I was SO worri-'

WHOA okay. That went way too far.

Before he could think of anything else to say that didn't sound stupid, the door opened and a smiling green puppy stood in front of the boy, "You want to disco sum' in yo' BIG HEAD!"

"I-wha...I don't have- whatever." He had learned to ignore Gir's sudden outbursts of nonsense by experience. "Uhm, is Zim there? He didn't show up to school so I thought-"

He suddenly felt a violent tug at his leg. With a loud yelp as his head hit the ground, the small robot dragged him inside the house. Gir shut the door after the boy, giggling madly. Dib, confused, rubbed the back of his head. He surely didn't understand Gir, and wondered how Zim coped with him.

Speak of the devil - or rather think - a voice was heard from another room. "GIR! Did you let someone in? I told you not to bring any humans into the house!" His steps were coming into the living room, and Dib quickly stoop up, not wanting to be found lying on the ground by his enemy. Zim came in faster as he thought, gasping as he saw the human, "Dib-stink! What are you doing in my base? Gir, why did you let him in!"

The robot continued giggling. He shot his arms into the air and screamed: "I DUNOOOOOOO!" and promptly ran past his master into the kitchen.

Zim blinked. "WELL," he exclaimed, remembering the situation, "explain yourself, human."

Dib's mind raced for words. He still didn't know what exactly to ask the alien so - he decided to go with the truth. "Listen, I uhm...I just want to talk. About the blacking out yesterday."

Zim opened his mouth and, surprisingly, shut it again. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, watching the boy hatefully. "Then talk."

Dib first was perplexed by the willingness. He had expected the alien to shout and scream, throw insults and death threats at him, how he didn't have time to bother himself with 'stoopid hymans' affairs'. The blackout seemed to be of great importance to him. So it had affected him after all. But how? At the loss of words again. Zim was growing impatient, tapping his left boot. "Did you...did you have one?" It was the best he could come up with.

Zim narrowed his eyes even further, glaring at him. "I don't know why this should be to your interest, Dib-worm."

Dib took a deep breath. Just say it. "You weren't at school today, aren't acting like yourself a lot and seem suspicious; you know what I think?" Another deep breath. "I think you caused the blackout. Or at least had something to do with it."

Zim growled. "Foolish human! I have nothing to do with it! What gain would I have to let the whole earth see their future?" He seemed to ponder. "Though I must admit, the damages and deaths this event caused surely are very impressive...I wonder why I, the AMAZING ZIM, didn't come up with it as I was still out to take over this messy ball of filth."

The human rolled his eyes, unimpressed. He didn't trust Zim, but also had doubts of him causing anything harmful anyway. "But why weren't you at school today then? The morning after the blackout of all days."

Now Zim was angrily hissing at him, his old normal self. "You come into MY base, demand answers to none-of-your-business questions and accuse ZIM of things he would have never done? Who do you think you are, human filth, I should imprison you right here and now and have horrible experiments done to you !"

Of course, Dib knew those were empty threats, but still he felt a little intimidated by his outburst. After all - he couldn't say he had the right to do this - could he? He tried a different way.

"I know you must be upset, and I know this sounds crazy, but...this whole blackout mess has unsettled me and you as well. And, you know, we're technically not enemies anymore, so what if we tried to work together and figure this out?"

It took a moment for both of them to realize what Dib has just said. He himself couldn't believe it. Had he just proposed the Irken to work with him? He hadn't even thought about it, just said the first thing that came to his mind. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea.

Zim was taken aback as he was. Or rather more. He just stared at the boy, speechless. Moments of silence passed. Dib waited. Zim contemplated. Finally the alien spoke -

"So a truce is that you propose...a truce to discover a mystery we don't know of. And why exaclty should I agree on this?"

"I can tell you're having problems with this situation as everyone else does. You had a blackout. You saw your future, I know that."

Again these words coming without thinking. How would he know what Zim felt or saw? Still, it seemed to work.

"I'll think about it, Dib-human. Await me at 'skool' tomorrow, and I shall give you an answer."

Dib couldn't tell why, but for some reason, he felt satisfaction rising up in him. He felt another step further into investigation. Maybe Zim could be a great help...if he just agreed. "Oookay then, I guess. Uhm, I'll see you tomorrow?"

Zim waved him aside. "Just go. I have to think."

Dib opened the door and quietly stepped outside, shutting it after him. Though he really didn't get any answers, he didn't know why Zim hadn't been to school, what he had seen, if he had seen something after all. Though that, he had another feeling of victory.

Zim considered the boy's proposal. He was still disgruntled that the human had been into his base and then acted as if Zim had done something wrong. He was a victim of this as everyone else was after all.

It's not that his blackout had been so extraordinary it scared him as he saw some humans fearing them. He was just curious, and, as the Dib had said, unsettled by the situation in general. Which human could be so powerful he let the whole world black out and see their future at the same time? And the Irken with them, he added. Surely enough power.

So he had been in this dirt ball for two years. So he had stopped trying to take it over for a few months. If the Dib helped him, if he might trick the Dib into a truce, maybe they could find this human and his power. So the Tallests' attention and approval didn't mean as much as they used to. Who said that, with the right scheme and technology, he still couldn't try to conquer it anyway?

News about lost people and family members looking for them were on television as Dib stepped into the living room. Gaz was sitting on the couch, as always, not in the least touched by the young woman sobbing on TV, being interviewed by a reporter. "They really are desperate," he commented, if only to make himself noticed.

She shrugged in response, "No big deal."

"Do you know actually if Dad's alright? I haven't heard from him since yesterday." Of course they basically never heard anything about their father besides what they showed on the media about him. Dib tried to not think of that.

"I suppose he's fine, or there would have been a report on his death." This he could have figured.

Sighing, he let himself drop on the couch, not getting too near to his sister. She growled in disapproval, but didn't do anything against it.

They silently continued watching the news, Gaz not once wondering where he had been since school. More and more reports were filling the stations, all about the blackout.

"So they're calling it 'flashforwards' now." Dib wasn't really listening, but was interested nonetheless. "Makes sense. Instead of a flashback, a flash into the future, forward."

"Shut up. It's, a 'flash into the future.' Stupid."

He raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't think it was? I thought everyone was sure on that."

"Nobody proofed it."

"As a matter of fact, there are blackouts - flashforwards of different people which are known to be in agreement with ea-"

"SHUT. UP. You have no idea! Maybe it was a vision into the future, maybe not! Who knows, what if the people just blacked out and dreamed, it was nothing but a dream, there's nothing mystical about it.." The venom in her voice was still in the air as the room went silent besides the crying people on TV. After a while-

"Gaz?"

She didn't look at him. "What." It wasn't question, it was a demand.

Just when he didn't answer she turned to glare at him. "What!"

But her expression softened, if just a bit, when she saw the suspicion and worry in his eyes.

He asked calmly;

"What did you see?"

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**Could this count as a cliffhanger? I don't know what I was doing myself. **

**Well I hope you liked it anyway. Oh, and care to tell me if you do? Any kind of feedback is always welcome.**


	4. Revelation One

**I know, I know. I took me a veeery long time to update and then the only thing I come up with is some short 800-words chapter that isn't even beta-tested. **

**To my defense I have to say that:**

**1. I had a lot to do in school,**

**2. I'm in summer break since a week or so ago and began to write again just then,**

**3. I'm leaving tomorrow on vacation and didn't have time to show this my beta-tester (since I wanted to post before I leave). **

**At least now you know that I'm not dead or that I didn't abandon this. I have a lot of ideas, but I have to get the story rolling first, so cope with me. It's my first multi-chaptered anything ever. **

**OKAY ENOUGH LAME EXCUSES you just want to read the story, do you. **

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A few moments passed, neither of them saying anything.

Dib shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Though Gaz was still turned to the TV, he couldn't help but feel that she was watching him from the corners of her eyes.

She then fully turned to him, face to face with her brother. Her features expressionless, she muttered: "Nothing."

Dib sighed theatrically. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me I can't help y-"

The girl sprang from her seat, sudden anger written over her face.

"Nothing. NOTHING. What do you not understand about this? I was watching TV, blacked out, saw absolutely _none_ of your weird visions, and woke up after 2 minutes something to find the world swirling into chaos. Did you get that into your insanely large head or should I repeat it in a way that even _you_ wouldn't be able to miss?"

Dib merely stood still, his jaw slightly agape, staring at his sister. He even ignored the insult her last sentence bore.

"So you- uh. You saw nothing? Just black?" A cold scowl from her affirmed that.

He went on. "But what do you think that means? You know, if it was really the future we saw-"

He interrupted himself, suddenly feeling a weight in his stomach. An idea clouded his thoughts, one he quickly tried to shrug off, realizing what it could mean. The most logical answer, so simple, so appalling...

Gaz snorted a humorless laugh. "Of course I know what it means." She let herself fall onto the couch again. "I knew it the moment I heard everyone else had a vision of their future."

She turned to Dib, who had gone pale now. "And you should know it too," she stated matter-of-factly. A grin was now covering her face, as if she was enjoying this.

He didn't want to believe it. Dib was gaping into space, full realization gnawing at his insides.

"You can just as well say it. It'll be good to hear it aloud." Gaz said, slight amusement in her voice. But Dib now knew that she was masking her anxiety, her dread of what might happen..

"You'll be dead. Six months from now you'll be dead." His voice sounded dead itself when he spoke. He didn't know what exactly had made him say it so blatantly, but the weight in his stomach faded a bit.

The girl's smirk widened, her gaze drifting to the TV again. "Exactly." Her voice was void of any emotions.

xX-Xx

Once again Dib laid on his bed restless as sleep wouldn't come.

The conversation with Gaz had upset, even frightened him to some degree. How could it be possible that she'll be _dead _in six months? As much as he didn't want to think about it, it wouldn't leave his mind. And she had seemed so restrained about it.

He sighed loudly, trying to lead his thoughts to Zim. So he had finally talked to him...and proposed a truce. Dib couldn't help but chuckle softly. What on earth had made him say that? He wondered if Zim might agree. Tomorrow, at school, he would know.

He turned on his bed, longing for the awaited tomorrow to come.

xX-Xx

His previous night's insomnia was clear on the boy's face. Dib viewed himself in the bathroom's mirror the next morning, trying somehow to hide the dark circles under his eyes and his cranky expression. Grudgingly, he admitted it was in vain. Looking like this, he was sure of giving the kids in his class just another reason to make fun of him.

Still, he couldn't wait for his chance to talk to Zim. Running down the stairs into the kitchen, he accidentally bumped into Gaz. He had not talked to her since she told him her flashforward - or rather the lack of it - and wondered if that discussion had changed their relationship somehow.

Dib mumbled a 'hi', hoping for a response, and was mildly disappointed as she just went on her way to make breakfast, without even glancing at him. Though, he added to his thoughts, at least she hadn't growled at him or even given him one of her dreaded death stares.

He decided to grab an apple to eat on his way to school rather than munch whatever Gaz would leave for him, and went out alone, earlier than he needed to. He wanted to see Zim before school started.

He shouted out into the house as he left, and, this time not waiting for an answer, he shut the door.

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**Haha okay that was pointless.**

**The first vision revealed! Now you know what Gaz saw (or didn't) . **

**You'll probably hear Dib's in the next chapter, where he finally meets up with Zim. Though I'm afraid you'll have to wait yet to know Zim's, I still have to find some right way to let him tell. **

***sigh* Don't you hate it when you have EVERYTHING in your head, but kind of ain't able to write it down properly? It's like, you have every idea, every reaction from the characters worked out, but you need HOURS to actually write one paragraph that sounds good.  
**

**Okay maybe that's just me pffff. **

**(also if someone wonders about the titles, those are modified episodes titles from the real series this is based on)  
**


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